Clothespin



Patented Oct. 1, 1929 UNITED STATES HENRY ROBERT DILLS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA CLOTHESPIN Application led October 20, 1928. Serial No. 313,898.

This invention relates to improvements in pins used for hanging out clothes, and par' 10 type and having tapered ends extending above the hinge. A spring hook member is provided formed of an integral piece of wire bent to form spring coils, a loop-shaped arm extending from the coils down the outer face of one of the jaws and jaw-gripping members extending diagonally from the coils in the direction of the hinge, the said members engaging in a groove in the back of the said jaw.

The invention is hereinafter more specifically described and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a side elevation of my improved clothes pin;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; and

Fig. 3 a rear elevation of the spring hook.

In the drawings like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

l and 2 are gripping members or jaws, preferably of wood. These aws are secured together by means of the spring hinge 5, which is of usual construction and therefore need not be described.

The jaw l, it will be noted, is of greater length than the other jaw 2, and on the lower end of the jaw 1 is formed a projection 4L adapted to lie under the end of the jaw 2, the upper side of the projection 4 being substantially at a right angle to the side of the jaw l. l/Vith this construction the jaws have a much firmer grip on the clothes than with the clothes pins now in use.

In order that the pin may first be secured to the clothes and afterwards hung on the line, I provide the pin with the spring hook member I will now describe. This hook member is formed of an integral piece of spring wire bent upon itself to form spring coils 5, a looped-shaped arm 6 extending from the coils down the outer face of the jaw 1,

members more securely in the groove.

and jaw gripping members 7 extending from the coils 5 in the direction of the hinge at an angle to the direction of length of the jaw. These jaw gripping members are formed with the hooked ends 8, which embrace the jaw being partly received in the groove 9 formed in the back of the jaw l.

The upper` ends of the jaws l and 2, it will be seen, are tapered, which, however, in no way interferes with the security of the con-`` nection between the hook 7 and the jaw, as upward pressure on the hook member merely binds the hooks of the jaw gripping If pressure be applied tending to force the hook member downwardly, the taper of the jaw comes into play to increase the spring grip of the hook member against the jaw so that under no conditions is it possible for the hook member to become accidentally disconnected from the jaw. They loop-shaped arm `6, it will be seen, is first bent outwardly away from the aw l, then back to engage the face of the aw to leave a space for the clothes line, andv then directed outwardly so that' when the line is pressed between the lower end of the loop-shaped arm 6 and the jaw l and when downward force is applied to the clothes pin, the loop-shaped arm 6 will be forced away from the jaw to allow the line" to enter the space where the loop-shaped arm is spaced from the jaw. Once the line is in this space, there is no danger of it accidentally becoming disengaged, while it may be easily disengaged when desired.

This clothes pin, it will be seen, is so designed that it can be used on an endless clothes line running on horizontally arranged pulleys so that the line goes out on one side and comes in on the other. The pins, beingv clipped separately to the line, will travel around the grooved pulleys ateach end, while the clothes hang below the line and do not Contact with the pulleys. Thus every inch of the line is available for hanging the clothes.

vWhat I claim as my invention is:

l. In a clothes pin, the combination of a pair of clothes gripping jaws; a spring hinge securing said members together; and a spring hook member comprising an integral piece of wire bent upon itself to form spring coils, a loop-shaped arm extending from the coils down the outer face of one of the jaws, and jaw-gripping members extending at an angle to the direction of the length of the jaw, said gripping members embracing the said jaw and having hooked ends engaged with part of the clothes pin to retain the hook member in rposition on the pin.

Q. In a clothes pin, the combination of a pair of clothes gripping jaws; a spring hinge securing said members together; and a spring hook member comprising an integral piece of wire bent upon itself to form spring coils, a loop-shaped arm extending from the coils down the outer face of one of the jaws, and jaw-gripping members extending at an angle to the direction of the length of the aw, said gripping members embracing the said jaw and having hooked ends engaged with a transverse groove formed in the back of the jaw.

3. In a clothes pin, the combination of a pair of clothes gripping jaws, one at least of which has a tapered upper end; a spring hinge securing said members together; and a spring hook member comprising an integral piece of wire bent upon itself to form spring coils; a loop-shaped arm extending from the coils down the outer face of the tapered end or one of the Jaws; and Jaw-gripping mem-` bers extending at an angle to the direction of the length of the jaw, said gripping niembers embracing the said jaw and having hooked ends engaged with a transverse groove formed in the back of the tapered part of the jaw.

Signed at New Orleans, La., this 27th day of September, 1928.

HENRY ROBERT DLLS.

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